No one party or bloc will win an outright majority in Spain’s snap general election, according to preliminary results with 50 per cent of votes counted.

The count had the ruling Socialist Party slightly ahead for parliamentary seats at 131, with the conservative People’s Party just behind at 130 seats.

However, the early count does not necessarily reflect the final outcome as it comes primarily from small towns.

Voter surveys earlier showed the PP ahead, although short of a working majority in the 350-seat lower house, which it could achieve via a potential tie-up with radical populists Vox.

The preliminary data put Vox on 31 seats.

Progressive electoral alliance Sumar was on 30 seats.

Opinion polls showed the election would likely produce a win for Alberto Nunez Feijoo’s centre-right People’s Party. To form a government, however, it would need to partner with Santiago Abascal’s far-right Vox.

This scenario would be the first time a far-right party has entered government in Spain since Francisco Franco’s dictatorship ended in the 1970s.

Many Spaniards are furious at being called out to vote at the height of the sweltering summer when they are on holiday.

-AAP

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